Did the US know about an impending attack on Israel? Iran claims to have informed Washington – the USA denies this. According to a report in the New York Times, Israel was surprised by the scale of the major attack.
According to its own statements, Iran informed the USA about its missile strikes before and after the major attack on Israel. “We sent clear messages to the Americans that the decision (…) to punish the Zionist regime was final and decisive,” said Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian in New York, according to the state news agency Irna.
On Sunday night, Iran sent another message to the US through diplomatic channels, “mentioning that we are not seeking an escalation of tensions in the region,” the minister said. According to Irna, the messages were transmitted via the Swiss embassy in Tehran. Since the USA and Iran have not had diplomatic relations for more than 44 years, American interests in Iran are represented by Switzerland.
The US government’s National Security Council communications director, John Kirby, dismissed reports of warnings from Iran on Monday. “The United States has not received any communications from Iran or anyone else indicating a specific timing, specific targets or types of weapons they would fire,” he said.
The extent of the attack was apparently surprising
If the Iranian information turns out to be correct, the question arises as to whether and when the USA informed Israel about it. According to a media report, Israel did not expect a direct major attack from Iran.
Citing information from government circles in the United States, Israel, Iran and other Middle East states, the New York Times reports that Israel was surprised by the extent of the Iranian attack. The Israelis “severely miscalculated” in their strike against the Iranian embassy in Syria at the beginning of the month, in which, among other things, two generals of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were killed, the paper writes.
War Cabinet initially wanted to strike back immediately
The Israeli government then expected smaller retaliatory strikes by proxies or a “limited” attack by Iran. Later, after initial suspicions about a major retaliatory action by Iran, Israel increased its estimates from around ten to up to 70 Iranian surface-to-surface missiles. Ultimately, according to Israeli information, more than 500 missiles, cruise missiles and drones were intercepted from Iran and its allies in the region.
After the Iranian missile launches became known, leading Israeli politicians spoke out in favor of an immediate retaliatory strike, the newspaper reported. Waiting could increase international pressure and “make Iran believe that it has set new rules for the conflict,” it was said behind closed doors. However, given the limited damage in Israel, the war cabinet postponed the decision.